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ium chemically. Radium preparations are remarkable for maintaining themselves at a higher temperature than their surroundings, and for their radiations, which are of three kinds: alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays (see these terms). By reason of these rays they ionize gases, affect photographic plates, cause sores o…

vate in degree according to some scale; as, to raise the pitch of the voice; to raise the temperature of a room.

projecting, or to admit of being projected, especially as to horizontal distance; as, the temperature ranged through seventy degrees Fahrenheit; the gun ranges three miles; the shot ranged four miles.

oarse or rough treatment or language; as, some sounds rasp the ear; his insults rasped my temper.

dy wit; a ready writer or workman. "Ready in devising expedients." Macaulay. Gurth, whose temper was ready, through surly. Sir W. Scott.

; a register; as, a record of the acts of the Hebrew kings; a record of the variations of temperature during a certain time; a family record.

d; a reënforcement. The state is to have recruits to its strength, and remedies to its distempers. Burke.

ar constructed as a refrigerator, for the transportation of fresh meats, fish, etc., in a temperature kept cool by ice.

t, or maintain, with respect to a desired rate, degree, or condition; as, to regulate the temperature of a room, the pressure of steam, the speed of a machine, etc. To regulate a watch or clock, to adjust its rate of running so that it will keep approximately standard time.

The act of regulating, or the state of being regulated. The temper and regulation of our own minds. Macaulay.

To restrain; to control; to check. Being once chafed, he can not Be reined again to temperance. Shak. To rein in or rein up, to check the speed of, or cause to stop, by drawing the reins.

come less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, cruel, or the like; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion. Can you . . . behold My sighs and tears, and will not once relent Shak.

n will attend you . . . as pleasant and useful companion in every proper place, and every temperate occupation of life. Buckminster.

-- often followed by an infinitive, or by to and a noun, formerly sometimes by against. "Tempering the severity of his looks with a reluctance to the action." Dryden. He had some reluctance to obey the summons. Sir W. Scott. Bear witness, Heaven, with what reluctancy Her helpless innocence I doom to die. Dryden.…

nt the inhalation of noxious substances, as dust or smoke. Being warmed by the breath, it tempers cold air passing through it, and may also be used for the inhalation of medicated vapors.

Stiffness of opinion or temper; rugged sternness; hardness; relentless severity; hard-heartedness; cruelty. All his rigor is turned to grief and pity. Denham. If I shall be condemn'd Upon surmises, . . . I tell you 'T is rigor and not law. Shak.

A highly contagious distemper or murrain, affecting neat cattle, and less commonly sheep and goats; -- called also cattle plague, Russian cattle plague, and steppe murrain.

To disturb, as the temper; to ruffle the temper of; to rouse the passion of resentment in; to perplex. That his friends should believe it, was what roiled him [Judge Jeffreys] exceedingly. R. North.

A fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals. It is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder. See 1st Fluke, 2. His cattle must of rot and murrain die. Milton. Bitter rot (Bot.), a disease of apples, caused by the fungus Glæosporium fructigenum. F. L. Scribner. -- Black…

Not courteous or kind; harsh; rude; uncivil; as, a rough temper. A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough. Shak. A surly boatman, rough as wayes or winds. Prior.